São Paulo – Nearly half of the world’s population will be living in seriously water-scarce areas by 2030, said the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Luc Gnacadja, during a high-level UN meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
At the meeting, strategies were discussed in order to make societies more resistant to climate issues. Over 11 million people have died from droughts worldwide since 1990. One of the conclusions reached at the meeting is that coordinated national plans must be created, including preparations, monitoring and drought information services.
The meeting’s joint statement was signed by the heads of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNCCD and other partners.
Since 1950, the amount of dry lands in the world has increased by almost 2% each decade. Droughts have affected mainly the Horn of Africa and Sahel, United States, Mexico, Brazil, some areas in China and India, Russia, and Southeast Europe. Desertification has taken place in 168 countries.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
